Power cables. Necessary? Definitely. Annoying? Absolutely. How to keep them all straight? Untangled? Organized? How many of us have crawled under a desk to unplug a laptop, only to wonder which cord is which?

Who, while preparing food and glancing at an Epicurious recipe, hasn’t leaned an iPad awkwardly against the knife block or cutting board? Right in the spill zone, in other words. Cooking a new recipe can be stressful enough—there’s no need to worry about ruining an expensive device. Protect it with a handy kitchen essential: Slip your iPad into a large Ziploc bag. Sealed, it’ll protect the tablet from any unanticipated messes—and the touch screen works, as normal. (Use the same technique to protect beloved family recipe cards.)

These ubiquitous binder clips have a million uses, but we’re especially fond of this one. Use them to clip wrapping paper right to the roll, one at each end. They were designed for clipping stacks of paper, so it’s a natural extension. You can even devise a hanging system, gaining real space savings from what is usually an unwieldy item.

If you’re an appliance junkie, you know how uncooperative these pesky cords can be. Rather than attempting to wrap the toaster cord around the base—it never stays put—before stowing it away, try this: attach the plug to the side of the machine, using a Command Picture Hanging Strip.